Book Reviewer: Chefena Hailemariam Bjork, Christina. 2019. Eritrea: A Classic African dictator took over. Themes, Stockholm. ISBN 978-91-985588-0-7 Christina Bjork’s book which made its debut in 2019 is about the history of modern Eritrea with a focus on the armed struggle. Her book comprises of twelve sections of personal narratives …
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My generation grew up consuming news. In Teashops, particularly in the morning, radios blasting, news bulletins from BBC Arabic, VoA, Monte Carlo, and many others. Every artisan on the streets had radios on the shopfronts. Each day I walked to school through the textile and grocery shops, tailors, tin artifact …
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It’s safe to say Ethiopians love their country more than their people. In fact, the ever warring political and military elite do not seem to mind eradicating the people and destroying the country and as long they are assured of ruling the rubble that’s left behind. Eight-hundred years of governing …
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Almost all my generation carry scars on their upper arms. Scars left from the crude type of vaccinations: smallpox, Measles, typhoid, TB, Yellow fever, etc. I say crude because it was not a drop on the tangue, or a pinch with a small needle. They use huge syringe and keep …
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A man from Keren arrived in Asmara and headed to the neighborhood where his relatives lived. Though he had seen the house long ago, he was not sure exactly where in was. Then he saw his relatives’ son sitting on the stairs of a door. He kissed the boy and …
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Say what you will about outgoing president Trump, and despite the messenger, there are many countries in the word that fit this description, and the country in question is one of them. An epitome of the description. It is a country that recently decided to go to war with itself. …
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Ethiopian security forces are carrying out an extensive ethnic profiling and arresting Tigrayans, particularly in Addis Ababa and other major cities. The arrested also include Eritreans. Tigrayans and Eritreans are known as Tigre, a term that means those who hail from Semen, the Northern part from central Ethiopia. Eritreans are caught in …
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Triangle-shaped structures are sturdy but also simple. In 1998-2000 war broker around the Eritrean village of Baddme, in the area the Ethiopians called Yirga Triangle. And today the initial devastating results of the current Ethiopian ethnic war is seen in a triangle whose three corners are the towns of Humera …
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When I started to work after leaving Eritrea, I landed at a sales and marketing job. My understanding of sales was clear, but I didn’t understand what marketing meant. My boss at the time, an American veteran of marketing, taught me that a sale is the about taking the product …
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Back in 1990, The New York Times had an opinion piece titled, “The Politics of Slash and Burn”. The gist of the article speaks to the beginning of down spiraling political discourse in the US where Republican candidates were encouraged to use words like ”Sick.” ”Traitors.” ”Bizarre.” ”Self-serving.” ”Shallow.” ”Corrupt.” ”Pathetic.” …
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What a change! Smartly dressed PFDJ official, with a bonus. For the first time he travels alone, and he scores two full points. The second person who comes (used to come) second to Osman Saleh was the previous information minister. The current one, I testify, used to dree sharply. But …
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Book Review by Semere T Habtemariam Title: SmeTr Hamassien: Objective and Struggle (ስመጥር ሓማሴን፥ ዕላማን ተጋድሎን።) Author: Dr. Yebio Woldemariam Language: Tigrinya (146 pages) Publisher: Ultimate Printing Press Year: 2017 (2010 Geez Calendar) The English version is out under the title: Profile of Courage: Eritrean Struggle against Italian Colonization and …
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(Sept. 18, 2020): Awate.com’s founding editor, novelist, and activist, Saleh “Gadi” Johar has been named PEN Eritrea’s annual Freedom of Expression Award winner, a recognition that awards $1,000.00 and a trophy. The award ceremony was hosted virtually on Friday, September 18, 2020. On behalf of the award committee, Dr. Daniel R. …
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How many Jute plants does it take to make US$3.4 million worth Jute bags? The Kenyan Fraudsters didn’t have to worry about that; they just swindled the amount by pulling jute fibers over the eyes of some Eritrean victims. Eritreans are not new to Kenya; a few call the country …
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After months old wrangling with the school administration, the Eritrean government finally closed the Italian schools in Eritrea. The school bell, “Sadly remains silent for the first time in 103 years in the Italian school of Asmara” as an Italian writer put it. But the fate of the Italian school …
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Orally told stories relate a conversation that took place in the first parliament in Eritrea in the 1950s. During a heated parliamentary debate on the official languages of Eritrea, a member of parliament from the Independence Block stood up to speak in favour of adopting Arabic as the second official …
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(This is a close English translation of the Tigrinya content of Negarit #100 video on YouTube channel) Happy September 1 for all of you. Our culture teaches us that one who is not grateful to fellow human beings is unable to be grateful to God. As we all know, Hamid Idris Awate …
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Last June, a small ship arrived from the UAE carrying relief aid for Eritreans in Dankalia. However, the Assab port authorities denied the ship entry to the port and it couldn’t berth at the Assab docks. Its captain decided to stay offshore where the ship threw its anchor and waited for …
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The following is a transcription of my YouTube Channel, “Negarit 97: ሰብኣይ ተመሪቁ – the man graduated – وتخرج الرجل“. Some parts are not properly structured. Saleh Johar When people reminisce about their neighborhood, they remember their good neighbors together with their families or relatives; they remember the neighbors they grew …
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This is part 2 of 3 series under the title of “Can Mesfin Hagos Lead Under a Banner of “One Country, One Destiny”? The third part will follow soon. Eritrea and its people have been on a trajectory of existential threat for two decades from the very revolutionaries who brought the nation …
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